Wire feeder



Jan. 7, 1930. e. MULLER 1,742,966

WIRE FEEDER Filed May 1, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l I Fig.

Inventor:

Gustav Muller,

5 His A-t-torneg.

Jan. 7, 1930. G, MUL ER 1,742,966

WIRE FEEDER Filed May 1. 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 2 7 4O 4F kzz /59ITWVGTTtQf: Gustav Mul IeT,

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G. MULLER Jan. 7, 1930.

WIRE FEEDER Filed May 1. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 l -l: G'uQt lat liler,WWW

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Patented Jan. 7, 1930 GUSTAV MULLER, OF BERLIN-STEGLITZ, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK WIRE FEEDERApplication fileu May 1, 1928, Serial No.

It has been proposed to separate single wires from a pile of wires bymechanically operated devices and to feed the separated wires to a pointwhere they are utilized, but when such devices are used for very finewires the friction between the wires in the pile is so great as tointerfere with the pulling out of the separated wires. The principalobject of this invention is to provide means for separating andtransferring single wires from a pile of very fine wires, such as theleading-in wires for electric incandescent lamps. To this end and inaccordance with the invention the selected wires are dragged endwise outof a pile of loose wires in a receptacle or hopper having a fixed bottomand open on one side at the edge of the bottom by means of a wireextractor comprising an oscillatory wire catcher mounted to swing intothe hopper through its open side and dip into the pile of loose wires,catch hold of one wire by a claw on the end, and swing backlongitudinally out of the hopper, dragging the se lected wire along thebottom of the hopper and out onto a plate or shelf projecting from theopen side of the hopper, and then release it. Preferably this projectingplate is pivoted above a chute or several chutes so that the wirescaught and withdrawn by the catchers slide into the chutes by a simpledown swing of the plate. The chutes guide the downwardly sliding wiresdirectly to the point where they are used.

In the accompanying drawing there is shown one form of wire feedingdevice embodying the invention, and in which Figure 1 is a front view,partly in section, and Figure 2 a side view of the device; Fig- I ures 3and 4 side views partly in section showing different positions of thewire catchers; Figure 5 a perspective view of the upper part of thedevice; Figure 6 a plan View showing the wire catchers and the extendedbottom plate of the hopper; Figure 7 a view in elevation and from therear of the wire catchers, and partly in vertical section through thebottom plate, and Figure 8 a cross section through the pile of wires.showing on a larger scale how the catcher picks out a wire.

In the particular form of wire feeder 274,304, and in Germany July 27,1927.

shown in the drawing a vertical post 1 carries a hopper 2 for a pile ofwires 3. The hopper is open at the top and also on the left side and hasa downwardly sloping fixed bottom 4 which acts as a support for the pileof wires. The hopper has two arms 5 projecting in substantially theplane of the bottom 4 and carrying near their free ends on pivots 6 abottom plate or shelf which swings on the pivots 6 and preferablyconsists of two metal troughs 7 side by side, but spaced apart, and withtheir free ends bridged or joined by a cross plate 8. The coil springs 9engage the lower side of the troughs 7, and ordinarily hold the shelf upso that the edge of the cross plate 8 bears against a bevel edge 10 ofthe hopper bottom 4 and forms a straight extension of it. Below theswinging shelf composed of the two troughs 7 and the plate 8, are twofunnel like chutes 11 fixed to the hopper 2 and each having an extension12 which is telescoped a delivery tube 13 which has at its lower end afunnel-like mouthpiece 14. The two sleeves 13 are carried by avertically movable cross head 15 slidable on the post 1, and driven upand down by the driving mechanism through the link 16.

The wire extractor for extracting one wire at a time from the pile ofloose wires in the hopper comprises a bracket 17 fixed on the post 1between the sliding cross head 15 and the hopper 2 and having a pin 18on which is pivoted a two armed actuating lever 19 with its lower endconnected through a slot20 with a pin 21 on the head 15. The upper endof the lever- 19 is connected by a link 22 with two oscillating levers23, 24 which swing in the same plane and are pivoted one behind theother on lugs 25 projecting from the chutes 11; The inner oscillatinglever 23 carries a transverse pin 26 which extends into the slots 28 oftwo arms 27 on the swinging shelf formed by the troughs 7 and plate 8.On the upper end of this inner oscillating arm 23 are pivoted on atransverse pin'29 two levers or wire catching arms 30 each having on itsfront end a bent claw 31. Each claw has, as shown in Figure 8, awedge-shaped notch 32 of a'size dependent on the thickness of the wireto be taken from the pile of wires 3, and which,

of the rear ends of the catchers project adjacent the travel of thelever 24 to form elongated teeth 33 which connect the lever to thecatchers in their rearmost position by an automatic lock on the lever,such as two pivoted locking pawls pivoted as best shown in Figure 7 likethe blades of scissors on a pin 35 on the oscillating arm 24 so that theupper legs 34 of the locking pawls will engage the ratchet teeth on therear ends of the catchers. The lower legs 36 of these pawls which couplethe catchers to the oscillating lever 24 are spread by a spring 37 whichtends to hold the upper legs 34 locked to the rear ends of the catchers.The locking pawls not only compel the catchers 30 to travel with thelever 24, but also hold down the rear ends of the catcher arms and holdup the front or claw ends against the pull of springs 38 which connectthe upper end of the oscillating lever 23 to the catchers and rock thecatchers on their pivots when released by the locking pawls 34, so thatthe catcher claws 31 swing down and the rear ends of the catchers swingsup out of range of the locking pawls.

The release of the locking pawls 33, 34, and the unlocking of thecatchers from .the lever 24 is brought about during the travel of thecatchers toward the hopper, preferably by two wedges 39 mounted on theinner sides of the troughs 7 to project into the passage between themand to be encountered by the lower legs 36 of the pawls when thecatchers and. lever 24 swing forward. The unlocking of the catcherspermit their forward or claw ends to swing down through the pile ofwires to the bottom of the hopper and thereby separate individual wiresfrom the pile. They remain unlocked during the return stroke of'thelever-24, during which they drag the selected wires end wise out of thehopper and are then automatically locked to the lever 24 near the end ofits back stroke by the legs 34 of the locking pawls. The catchers areautomatically swung into locking position by two set screws 40 on therear end of the swinging shelf or bottom plate 7 and 8 which swing up asthe shelf swings down and thereby'raise the front ends of the catchersso far that their rear ends slide down over the upper legs 34 of thelocking pawls until they are resiliently caught by the pawls and lockedto the lever 24.

The device shown as one example of the invention is suitable for feedinglead wires to the machines for making stems for electric incandescentlamps and similar articles. In this example the working position beneaththe funnels 14 of the movable sleeves 13 for utilizing the wires pulledout of the pile 3 and delivered to the place of use is occupied by oneof the stem heads of a rotatable stem making machine. structed as usualwith clamping jaw 41 for holding a stem tube 42, a socket for holding anarbor 43, and two wire holders or sockets 44 for holding the lead wiresto be sealed into the stem tube.

The pinching jaws 45 are closed automatically to compress the softenedglass of the lower end of the stem tube and make the press.

Merely for illustration, the stem head is shown as mounted on a rotarytable or spider 46 mounted on the frame 47 of the machine and rotatedstep by step by an intermittent gearing 48 which is actuated by a driveshaft 49 which also, through a cam 50, actuates the link 16 and the wirefeeder in definite time relation to the movement of the table 46, sothat the wire feeder is actuated and delivers wires to the stem headwhile the stem head is stationary with its wire sockets 44 in registrywith the mouth pieces 14 of the delivery tubes, as indicated in Figure1.

The operation of the device shown is as follows:

Assume that the hopper is filled with wires Each stem head is con- 3 andthe catchers 30 occupy their rearmost postion, shown in Figures 1 and 2,with the shelf or bottom plates 7 and 8 hanging down. The rear ends ofthe catchers 30 are locked by the upper legs 34 of the coupling pawls tothe oscillating lever 24, as shown in Figures 5' and 7. As the slidinghead 15 rises on the post 1 the linkage system 19, 22, 23, 24 causes thecatchers to swing forward until they occupy the position shown in fulllines in Figure, 3. At the same time the shelf or bottom plate is thenswung upwardly by the springs 9 because during the forward swing of thelever 23 the pin 26 moves freely in the slots 28 of the guides 27.Shortly before the end of the forward swing of the catchers the lowerlegs 36 of the locking pawls run between the wedges 39 on the inneredges of the trough 7 of the swinging shelf. The locking pawls arebrought together by the wedges, whereby the upper legs 34 are pulled outof the teeth 33 of the catchers-30, thereby disas shown in Figure 3,holds fast one wire in the wedgeshaped notch 32 while the pointed legsof the claw 31 shove aside the neighboring wires. Now the sliding head15 reverses and moves downward, causing a reverse movement of thelinkage system 19, E22, 213, 24 and a retreat of the catchers 80.

As the catchers are now free from the lever 24, and their front ends arecontinuously pressed down by the springs 38. their notched ends slidealong and over the bottom 4 and out onto the swinging shelf over thecross plate 8 and into the troughs 7. The wires gripped and caught bythe notched ends or claws are dragged along endwise by friction duringthe retreat of the catchers until the catchers reach the position shownin Figure 4, where the wires which have been carried along arecompletely withdrawn from the pile and lie for their full length on theswinging shelf and for most of their lengths in the troughs 7. When thecatchers reach this position the pin 26 on the oscillating lever 23strikes against the left end of the slot 28 in the guide 27, whereuponthe further swing of the oscillating lever 23 toward the rear affectsthe position of the swinging shelf which is now carried along or swungdown, as shown in Figures 1 and 5. At the completion of the down swingof the shelf the stops 40 strike the catchers 30 from beneath, wherebytheir front ends are lifted away fromthe swinging shelf and their rearends lowered over the locking pawls. The upper legs 34 of the lockingpawls are squeezed together by the passage over them of the downwardlymoving catcher ends until after the passage of the catcher ends overthem they are snapped apart by the spring 37 and then engage the teeth33 of the catcher ends. The catchers are thus again coupled to theoscillating arm 24, so that on the next forward movement they pass intothe hopper in their high or lifted position.

The discharge of the selected wires from the swinging shelf is due togravity as the wires are held but loosely between the claw notches 32and the bottom plate and usually slide downwards during the downwardswing of the shelf but certainly do so when, by the contact of the stops40 with the catchers, the claws are lifted somewhat away from the shelf.The released wires slide endwise down the troughs 7 of the swingingshelf through the funnels 11 into the extensions 12 and then through thedelivery tube 13 into the funnel-like mouthpieces 14, which, on thereturn stroke of the catchers, have descended into the stem head asshown in Fig. 1. By the mouthpieces 14 the wires are accurately fed intothe lead wire sockets 44 of the stem head 41 which is in workingposition beneath the wire feed device. While the sliding head 15together with the delivery tube 13 and mouthpieces 14 rise for anothercycle the stem making machine is moved one stepby the intermittentdriving mechanism, indicated in Fig. 1, so that when the wires are nextfed another stem head is in the working position below the slidingdelivery tube 13.

The invention can be used wherever a definite number of wires,especially very fine wires, are to be separated from a pile and fed to aworking position. The device may be equipped with one, or two, or morethan two wlre catchers, and with a corresponding number of chutes. Thepositive control of the oscillatable catchers can also be obtained inother ways, for example, by a cam acting on the lever 19. If the deviceis used for feeding of lead wires andv is attached to a stem makingmachine then the up and down movement of the slide head 15 can beproduced by the driving mechanism of the stem making machine, asindicated in Fig. 1.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a wire feeder, the combination of a hopper having in one wall anopening with its lower edge at the bottom of the hopper, a wire catchingarm having a projecting claw with a wire gripping notch in its end, andactuatingmeans for moving said arm to carry said claw forward into saidhopper, drop it into contact with the hopper bottom and move it backwardto drag endwise along the hopper bottom and out hrough said opening awire seized by said claw.

2. In a wire feeder, the combination of a hopper having in one wall anopening with its lower edge at the bottom of the hopper, a deliverychute with its inlet adjacent but below the edge of said opening, apivoted shelf normally with its free edge adjoining the hopper bottom atsaid opening and capable of swinging downward to carry its free edge tothe inlet of said chute a wire catching arm having a projecting clawwith a wire gripping notch in its end, actuating means for moving saidarm to carry said claw forward into said hopper, drop it into contactwith the hopper bottom and move it backward to drag a wire seized bysaid claw endwise along the hopper bottom and out through said openingonto said shelf prior to the downward swing of the shelf.

3. In a wire feeder, the combination of a hopper having in one wall anopening with its lower edge at the bottom of the hopper, a delivery.chute with its inlet adjacent but below the edge of said opening, apivoted shelf normally with its free. edge adjoining the hopperbottom atsaid opening and capable of swinging downward to carry its free edge tothe inlet, a wire catching arm having a projecting claw with a wiregripping notch 1n its end, actuating means for moving said arm to carrysaid claw forward into said hopper, drop it into contact with the hopperbottom, and move it backward to drag a wire seized by said claw endwisealong the hopper bottom and out through said opening onto said shelfprior to the downward swing of the shelf, and connections whereby saidactuating means swing said shelf downward as said claw near the end ofits backward movement along said shelf.

4. In a wire feeder, the combination with a hopper having at one end anopening adjoining the bo-ttom of said hopper, of a wire extractor forpulling a wire endwise along the bottom of said hopper through saidopening comprising two arms pivoted to swing in the same planeperpendicular to the bottom of said hopper, a wire catchin lever pivotedintermediate its ends on the orward one of said arms and having a wirecatching claw on its forward end and biased to swing its forward endtoward the bottom of said hopper, an automatic lock for locking the rearend of said lever to said rear arm at the rear posit-ion of said lever,and means for unlocking said lever near the end of its forward swing topermit the claw to move down to thebottom of said hopper.

5. In a wire feeder, the combination with a hopper having at one end anopening adjoining the bottom of said hopper, of a wire extractor forpulling a wire endwise along the bottom of said hopper through saidopening comprising two arms pivoted to swing in the same planeperpendicular to the bottom of said hopper, a wire catching leverpivoted intermediate its ends on the forward one of said arms and havinga wire catching claw on its forward end and biased to swing its forwardend toward the bottom of said hopper, two locking -pawls mounted on acommon pivot on said rear arm and biased to close their upper ends onthe rear end of said lever and thereby lock said arm to said leverduring its forward swing, and means mounted near the end of the swing ofsaid arm to engage the lower ends of said pawls and move them to releasesaid lever.

6. In a wire feeding mechanism, the combination of a hopper having atoneend an opening adjoining the bottom of said hopper, a wire extractorcomprising a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and having a claw atits forward end, a movable member mounted to move into and out of saidhopper and on which said lever is pivoted to permit the forward end ofsaid lever to swing into contact with the bottom of said hopper, anactuating member for moving said movable member and said lever towardand away from said opening, a lock on said member for locking saidlever-to said member, a pivoted shelf with its free edge normallyadjoining the edge of thebottom of said hopper at said opening, andmeans responsive to the downward swing of said shelf to swing theforward end of said lever up until'its rear end is caught byv said lockon said member.

7. In a wire feeding mechanism, the combination with a stem headcomprising wire holders and tube holders, of a wire feeder comprising ahopper having at one end an opening adjoining the bottom of said hopper,a wire extractor for drawing a wire endwise along the bottom of saidhopper and out through said opening, a chute with its inlet end adjacentthe edge of the bottom of said hopper, a delivery tube telescoped on theend of said chute in position to register with a wire holder of saidstem head, a reciprocating cross head, and connections from said crosshead to said wire extractor and said delivery tube to move said deliverytube down into registry with a wire holder of said stem head as saidwire extractor moves out of said hopper and feeds a wire into saidchute.

v 8. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a support for holding a said support to dra thewire seized by said claw endwise out o the pile of wire.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination with anelongated support on which a pile of wires may be laid lengthwise, of awire catcher having a claw for gripping one wire at a time and mountedto move into proximity to said support to catch one wire of said pile insaid claw, and actuating means for producing relative movement of saidclaw and said support longitudinally of said support to drag said wireendwise out of said pile.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination with asupport extending lengthwise of a pile of wires, of a wire catching armhaving one end shaped to grip one wire only and movably mounted to bringsaid end adjacent said support to catch a wire between said end, andsaid support and'to move bodily along said support to drag said wireendwise along said support and out of said pile, and actuating means forsaid arm.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of April,1928.

GUSTAV MULLER.

